Porcelain Doll
by Just Like Riding A Bike
Summary: We've all read it. Harry is abused and comes to Hogwarts to be loved and healed; but what if he wasn't the one hurt? What if Draco was the one in pain and nearly broken? Draco's determination to please his father and strength to survive lands this snake in the lion's den. Read on as little boys are thrown into a war and learn how to trust.
1. Chapter 1

Porcelain Doll

Just Like Riding A Bike

Summary: We've all read it. Harry is abused and comes to Hogwarts to get loved and healed; but what if he wasn't the one hurt? What if Draco was the one in pain and nearly broken? Draco's determination to please his father and strength to survive lands this snake in the lion's den. Read on as little boys are thrown into a war and slowly learn to trust.

A/N I have come back to my home fandom for a little rest and relaxation. I need to remember what it is like to enjoy something again and that is what writing is to me; something to feel good about. So here you go. My take on a few tropes I see all the time.

Pairings: As you can probably guess this will be Drarry eventually, but that is pretty far in the future, I want to give them plenty of time to heal and just be children. As for side pairings; to be perfectly honest I have no idea despite the fact I've had the basics of this idea stuck in my head FOR YEARS. You have no idea how hard it was not to write this when I was too swamped with other things.

Go ahead and suggest pairings and characters you would like to see more of in stories. Of course I reserve the right to include or not include things I don't like, but that doesn't mean I won't listen to you. I'm pretty friendly and open minded so don't be shy.

The rating on this story is MATURE mainly due to subject matter and language, not necessarily sex however I don't know what will happen as it progresses. Though like I said that is far in the future of the story.

Chapter One

Draco Malfoy didn't like crowds. Rather detested them in fact. His father took long commanding strides that Draco somehow had to keep up with while still maintaining an unruffled appearance or a stinging hex would hit his back. If he slouched; another hex. Or ran, or jumped. All would be met with a stinging hex to back or neck. Even if it wasn't his fault. If Knott wanted to make a fool out of himself by running amok through the alley then that was his own business and Draco shouldn't allow himself to be drug into it.

Being out in public was bad, being home was worse, because then his father didn't have his own mask to maintain and no longer had to keep the spells discreet. Lucius was creative and cruel, rarely if ever leaving marks, but he drove his lessons in hard.

After every trip out Draco had to recite his list of offenses back to his father, and for each one a new punishment would be doled out and woe betide him if he forgot one.

Only once had Draco gone to his mother for sympathy, once. His punishment for seeking solace made whatever injuries he had prior to that seem like a scraped knee. It was not worth the pain. Narcissa Malfoy herself was a product of pureblood upbringing. Obedient and submissive to a fault, she was a trophy for her husband and that was all she was taught to be. His mother loved him, but she feared her husband more.

By the time his Hogwarts letter arrived he was losing hope and sanity. He just wanted it to stop, all of it. He wanted to please his father, but nothing was good enough. School was his one chance, gaining the top spot would surely gain his approval, it just had to otherwise he didn't know what else to do.

Then he met him. The boy with scruffy black hair and bright green eyes. Nothing too out of the ordinary at first. His father always coached him into making sure new people were worth associating with. He didn't realize until later that he had asked the wrong questions or he might have known sooner just who he was talking to that day at the robe shop.

The boy had looked so scared! He looked lost and confused, but when Draco asked he did say his parents were a witch and wizard, he could hit himself for not thinking that the boy could have been an orphan or something. It had happened so fast.

Then there was the train. Crabbe and Goyle weren't his friends. He didn't know what you would call them. They hung around him because he was a Malfoy and his father knew their fathers. He didn't actually like either of them. Telling them to go away was bad manners and would get him in trouble so he just had to bear it, his father had taught him long ago to put up with unsavory people for the sake of reputation.

It was all for his father. When he thought he could make a connection with the famous Harry Potter, at the expense at that blasted Weasley no less, it was perfect.

That was until those scared eyes blinked up at him, and a slim pale hand skittishly took his own, "Why don't we all stand together?" He offered. Overwhelmed by the sights and sounds around him Harry was reaching out and taking all the offers he was getting.

Both Draco and Ron seemed absolutely repulsed by the idea. Ron in particular pulled away from the platinum blonde like Draco might bite him, "Harry no, you don't want to be friends with someone like him!" He snapped.

"Save your breath Weasley," Draco tried to stay calm, his dad wouldn't like it if he got mad. "I'm leaving." With that he walked away, Harry looking between the two wizards with a confused and hurt expression. What had he missed?

There was no room for a Malfoy and a Weasley to ever be friends.

Of course as Draco was leaving another student just had to run into him, a girl with bushy brown hair and buck teeth, he was so mad he didn't even stop to talk to her he just pushed past and let Crabbe and Goyle deal with her.

Hogwarts was beautiful. He couldn't show it though. Nothing could be better than the manor. His family earned that, so it was the best of the best, nothing was greater.

He eyed the hat warily as it sang, the song scaring some while relieving others; to him it was nothing he wasn't prepared for. He'd been drilled on this moment since the beginning of forever it felt like. Slytherin house was waiting for him. He was already waiting to see if his father's initials were still carved into the headboard of one of the beds in the dorm. He simply had to make his father proud.

One word would change his life forever, "GRYFFINDOR!"


	2. State of My Head

Porcelain Doll

A/N Just wanted to clarify something. In this story Draco doesn't know he is abused, no one does. In pureblood culture it is normal to be harsh with children but as you will find out Lucius takes it too far even for their traditions. Also, Harry has also been treated more harshly than in the books (though personally canonically Harry is abused, you can't tell me keeping a child in a cupboard in a house with four bedrooms for ten years _isn't_ at the very least neglect) This is why he is so starved for affection that he is reaching out to BOTH Draco and Ron. I don't want to change his character _too_ much, but it wouldn't be much of a story if I didn't alter at least something. I hope you understand.

Oh, before I forget. Hermione will be brought in soon. I absolutely adore her character, also I'd like to work with the other boys in the Gryffindor dorms more.

Just Like Riding A Bike

Chapter Two

State of My Head

Draco felt his heart stop, even as the ever stern professor McGonagall pulled the hat off his head in total shocked silence. Not just her, but the whole hall wasn't making a sound.

It was like the students were waiting for the punchline of a good joke, or the headline of a juicy news story.

Slowly the clapping started for him, but it was lukewarm and died out quickly in the overwhelming quiet. A Malfoy in the lion's den? Nonsense!

Draco spared a glance at his gob smacked godfather only to see Severus Snape unchacteristically unmasked and staring at him with a mix of curiosity and fear. He didn't know what to make of that. All he knew was the very thought of what his father was going to do about this was making Draco tremble and feel sick to his stomach.

He barely noticed the uproar around him as the boy-who-lived was sorted, only to slide into a seat next to him, and again he totally missed when the belligerent red-head took the spot on Harry's other side. Weasley grumbling the whole time about being stuck with him.

Draco was far too worried about his father's reaction to this. The last things he could think about were food and who would be in the dorm. Not when he wasn't sure if he would survive Christmas. Reputation was everything to the Malfoy's, and here he was, a goody two-shoes Gryffindor.

That's it, he was dead. Simply dead. Or at the very least disowned and to a Malfoy it was practically the same thing. He wasn't sure what was going to happen now. He wasn't just the oldest son, he was the only child. If he fell into disfavor that would put his father into a bad spot.

It was agonizing to think about, so bad he didn't hear Harry speak at first, until Ron forced himself into Draco's train of thought; speaking much louder than Harry had been able to. "Hey Malfoy, you going to eat or not?" He grumbled, before filling his mouth with mashed potatoes once more.

Draco gave his plate a long look, before realizing he might as well have his last meal, he'd been too irritated to eat anything on the train so he was pretty hungry now that he was reminded about it.

Now that Draco had been broken out of his daze, Harry attempted to talk to him again, unfortunately he picked the wrong topic, and although it was an innocent enough mistake since it was made from the desire to get both the boys he'd met talking to each other civilly. "How do you two know each other?"

Blue and silver eyes met for an instant before turning away with a huff, Ron answering for the two of them, "Our dads work together."

"Barely," Draco added, looking highly insulted, almost like Ron had just kicked his puppy. "They both work for the Ministry of Magic, but they work in very different departments. My Father is good friends with the Minister himself, Weasley's Father works with _muggles._ " The scathing tone he used for the word left little doubt how Draco felt about them.

Harry cocked his head to the side, "What's wrong with muggles? My aunt and uncle are muggles, and they did raise me instead of kicking me to the curb."

Draco looked at him like he was an alien and even Ron looked surprised, "You mean to tell me the most famous wizard in our world was raised by muggles?" He exclaimed, barely keeping his voice to an acceptable level. Being in Gryffindor was bad enough, he didn't need to make his situation any worse by breaking more of his father's rules.

"What's wrong with that?" Harry still looked really confused, and a little hurt by what Draco was saying.

Ron interrupted before Draco could answer, "I warned you Harry, he wasn't the sort you wanted to hang out with. His kind hate muggles and muggleborns. I doubt they would like anyone muggle raised either."

"You aren't any better!" Draco protested, not able to handle the slander coolly any more. "Your family hates mine, and anyone like mine."

"Hey, what's going on here? Why are you fighting?" An older, taller, red-head asked as he puffed out his chest making the shiny badge pinned to his robes more visible. He didn't look a whole lot like Ron, but the way the younger boy was reacting to him made the trio think they knew each other.

"Nothing Percy." Ron ground out, "We're fine. Just talking about Quidditch." He came up with a lie on the fly, better than the alternative.

Percy looked them over the rim of his glasses shrewdly, obviously not sure if he should believe him, before slowly responding. "Fine. Just don't let me catch you causing trouble again, it's only the first night." And with that he turned on his heel and went back to his seat.

Ron's forehead came to rest abruptly on the table between his plate and goblet as soon as the older boy was out of earshot.

"Let me guess, your brother?" Draco actually found himself curious, and Ron just nodded. "Why lie to him?"

"And risk a howler from Mum for fighting with you on the first day? No thank you!" Ron pointed out, lifting his head off the table to show wide blue eyes.

"If I dared to lie to a family member and my Father found out, a howler would be the least of my problems." Draco admitted before turning back to his dinner; effectively ending the conversation.

Well, mostly.

"So… What's a howler?" Harry asked curiously from his seat between the two purebloods. This would mark the beginning of a weird and occasionally awkward friendship, but only time would tell if it would turn out for the better.


End file.
